Issue #1,135 | Inside the Business of CAD | 1 August 2022
for Graphisoft’s CAD software
The Graphisoft division of Nemetschek Group last month revealed plans for the future of its design software, based on technology that’s happening today.
Here, I paraphrase a talk given by vp of product development Zsolt Kerecsen with vp of product success Shesh Gorur at events.graphisoft.com/event/graphisoft-launch-event (registration required).
I found it interesting that ArchiCAD was never mentioned by name, but perhaps that was not intentional. On the other hand, a name change would make sense, as “Archi” is too specific to architecture and I’ve always found “ArchiCAD” an awkward name to pronounce — is it “ar-[k]-icad”, “ar-[sh]-icad,” or “ar-[guttural ‘ch’ in the throat]-icad?”
Graphisoft’s Framework For the Future
The company has been developing a new CAD framework that has a desktop part and a cloud part — calling it “adaptive hybrid.”
The “microkernel” (dark gray in the figure above) runs on the desktop and contains services common to all programs, such as licensing and file loading. On top of it runs code for general BIM [building information modeling] functions (medium gray), along with modules with code specific to each discipline (in blue), such as structural steel design. As Graphisoft supports more disciplines, they are added here.
The area (in pink) encircled by the dashed outline can become an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] platform for customers who want to build their own BIM system.
The design cloud hub (in light gray) provides public access to the BIM stack. It appears to skip general BIM authoring, i.e. design.
By making its software modular, Graphisoft will find it easier to make changes to the system. New features are either tightly or loosely integrated, on the desktop or in the cloud, depending on where they fit best. “This is how we set up Graphisoft for the future,” said Mr Kerecsen.
At the same event, Graphisoft laid out its roadmap to 2025:
Roadmaps give customers reassurance that better things are coming in the future. On the other hand, customers might think, “What? I have to wait until 2025 for automation!” and look for a nimbler competitor.
Or Graphisoft might find that future features, like “smooth extensibility,” aren’t actually possible, or that over time different technologies becomes priorities in programming — or another Black Swan event occurs, such as the covid lockdown or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to disrupts plans.
What ‘Adaptive Hybrid’ Means
The new framework is called “adaptive hybrid,” because it is designed to adapt to the design mode the customer is in — desktop or cloud — and switch. Customers with powerful hardware probably prefer to run in desktop mode; with lightweight machines, in cloud mode to access remote server computing.
Other firms moving desktop CAD wholesale to the cloud have floundered, and so Graphisoft is placing a foot in each camp, staying with the desktop as its firm foundation. Some of its technology is already server-based (like centralized file sharing), and so could be cloud-ified easily.
Adding In Today’s Buzzword Technologies
When Mr Gorur asked about “buzzword technologies,” Mr Kerecsen seemed to hedge. I understand his hesitation, because what seems exciting last year can prove to be a dud next year.
He listed the following technologies as “disruptive” and that might find a place in the framework:
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Augmented reality — potentially helpful for viewing models in-situ
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Artificial intelligence — perhaps helpful with repetitive tasks, such as for robotic processes
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Machine learning linked to A.I. — might be helpful with generative design and algorithmic design, such as finding the best floor plans
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Blockchain — could be helpful in handling distributed licenses
AR. Some of these disruptive technologies are already available to ArchiCAD users, such as viewing 3D models with BIM/X, and algorithmic design through a link to Grasshopper. They have been available for some years now.
A.I. We have seen Bricsys use A.I. to assist with dull, repetitive work, and now we see Graphisoft looking at A.I. in the same way. Quite a let-down from the excitement of beating humans at Go.
Generative Design. The current ceo of Graphisoft, Huw Roberts, was for a time in charge of generative design studies at Bentley Systems. That there has been no big push in that direction with his move to Graphisoft is enlightening; I find that generative design tends to be more popular with marketing departments than with designers.
The hype over apparently-disruptive technology is inescapable, as the technology world, which is a growth market no longer, looks for the Next Big Thing. At some point, you gotta realize that you’re 60, and you just can’t do the things you used to be able to do. (The first CAD program is now approximately 60 years old.) Quite fitting for a 60-year-old industry that the last Next Big Thing was a medical condition, covid.
Going further, I would argue that none of those technologies are disruptive, which I define as “tech that replaces.” Rather, they are options that some users will find useful, and so will add them to their toolboxes.
When Hybrid Framework Becomes Available
When will the future be realized? Again, Mr Kerecsen hedged, giving no date. We know that grand predictions of moving CAD to the cloud tend to fail, such as Solidworks 6 never shipping and all Autodesk software not being available only on the cloud by 2018.
He noted that Graphisoft began working on the framework a few years ago, and then two years ago added plug-ins. Through continuous development, the company plans to add more over time. “I cannot say it will be finished at some point,” he concluded.
What Ralph Grabowski Thinks
Three decades ago, the future of computing was going to be all-in-one software (remember Lotus Symphony?). That flopped. Two decades ago, the future was collaboration, and that kind of happened with many CAD programs. A decade ago, the future clearly was moving all CAD software from the desktop to the cloud, and that didn’t happen.
In all cases, these initiatives were driven by vendors’ desire to lock users into their platforms. Symphony flopped because it demanded hardware excessive for the times. Machine-to-machine collaboration is okay, but talking in person is better. The cloud is superior at a few CAD functions, but worse at many others.
Today, software vendors like Graphisoft and ZwSoft (I wrote about Project Wukong in upFront.eZine #1,101) are roadmapping a future that combines all-in-one software with collaboration, the desktop, and the cloud. It’s what makes sense today; it might not tomorrow.
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And in Other News
FreeCAD 0.2 is released for Windows, MacOS, and Linux on Github. The latest version improves tree views, multiple-edit modes, section cuts, BIM to 2D, and more. For the full what’s-new list, see wiki.freecadweb.org/Release_notes_0.20.
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“The cost of paying staff to watch their computers churn through opening large Revit files or processing large volumes of data can be significant,” Ideate Software tells us, so they have a solution: Ideate Automation 2.0 scripting software that runs these kinds of tasks in the background (some require additional software):
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Export designs to PDF, spreadsheet, health data, and quantity take-off files
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Issue documents, COBie data drops
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Search for elements that Revit’s built-in browser can’t find
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Analyze non-standard styles and annotation clashes
…and so on. Get a free trial from www.ideatesoftware.com.
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Beta Cae Systems releases v23 of its simulation software suite with these new functions:
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Geometry and mesh combined in one toolset
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Automatic hexa-block generation for tube shapes
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50% faster batch CFD meshing
…and a lot more. Read all the details at beta-cae.com/news/20220719_announcement_suite_23.0.0.htm
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Dassault Systemes reports Q2 revenues up 11% (in constant currencies) to $1.38 billion, with Solidworks growing ‘only’ 8%, because of China’s Covid-19 lockdowns, even though total revenues from Asia (which includes China) were up 13%.
The company predicts total revenues of $5.5 billion for fiscal year 2022. It plans to avoid the upcoming recession with a mature pipeline and no large deals collapsing. More reporting from Monica Schnitger at schnitgercorp.com/2022/07/26/earnings-recaps-cadence-dassault-systemes-report-solid-results-and-talk-acquisitions.
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Here are some of the posts that appeared recently on my WorldCAD Access blog:
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Review: Scanning Old Film Slides
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Opinion: Benchmarking the M1 vs Pentium
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Opinion: Achieving my three goals
You can subscribe to the WorldCAD Access blog’s RSS feed through Feed Burner at feeds.feedburner.com/WorldcadAccess.
Letters to the Editor
This project was done with all BIM: fastcompany.com/90761934/the-2000-foot-bridge-was-constructed-without-a-single-drawing.
Congratulations on your pending retirement.
- Henry Sommer
The editor replies: Interesting read. I am gonna bet that when the concrete subs got the 3D models, they generated 2D drawings, away from the public relations department!
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Happy retirement (I don’t quite believe that) and thanks very much — really, for a major part of my enjoyment and understanding of computing in ‘my hobby is my business’ Architecture.
In particular, after years struggling at great initial and annual cost with Microstation Triforma, while happily using an old-version no-annual-cost AutoCAD for 2D, I came across upFront eZine just as you were describing BricsCAD, including its newly re-engineered BIM, which I immediately bought at low cost and got 3D + 2D integrated in familiar, efficient AutoCAD workstyle. That transformed my work, I’d even say my life.
And more. I rewrote my understanding of your descriptions of BricsBIM in my own words on the BricsCAD forum, which got an email of appreciation from [then-]ceo Erik de Keyser. Then an invitation to speak at BricsCAD Conference 2015 in Munich, where I delivered an illustrated talk: my journey in architecture, artistic, cultural and practical; an appeal for the off-angle, freeform, as opposed to the rectilinear assumption, which only BricsBIM’s approach had a hope of fulfilling. It was a lot of fun and went down very well, although it wasn’t what Erik was expecting!
And I’ve enjoyed meeting you at subsequent BricsCAD Conferences, exchanging emails, and seeing them in upFront eZine.
I hope I get to hear if you find yourself doing anything else interesting in the computing world. I’ve said same to Dave Edwards.
- Tom Foster
The editor replies: I am glad to hear that I was able to be of some help to your career. I will continue to write on my blog, WorldCAD Access at worldcadaccess.com/blog.
Notable Quotable
“Given that infectious viruses are outside the wheelhouse of virtually everyone who talks about politics for a living, the correct disposition for public commentators in this pandemic has always been humility, a tone that does not come easily to many of us know-it-alls.
“[The] most important truths will not be revealed by sloppily using transient data we barely understand to reinforce ideological priors.”
- J. J. McCullough
Thank You, Readers
Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine:
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Steve Hunter
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Malcolm Davies: “Happy Retirement Ralph. Thank you for the many years of wisdom and information.”
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Stanley Przybylinski: “The PLM Economy (a phrase I coined while at Dassault to refer to the companies that make money off of industrial PLM strategies) will be the worse for your silence. That said, retirement is not far off for me and I am looking forward to (my) silence.”
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Stephen Schuller: “Thank you for the writing!”
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$25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25
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